Donner_Party_Discussion

Edit 0 1 …

The Donner Party Discussion/Comprehension Questions


  1. What reasons led James Reed and George Donner to take Hastings Cutoff? Why was their decision unwise?
  2. What other factors contributed to the failure of their venture?
  3. Was Lansford Hastings to blame for what happened to the Donner Party? How?
  4. What traits did members of the Donner and Reed families possess? Support your answer with examples from the film.
  5. How did people in the 1840s view the American West? How did the story of the Donner Party help to strike down the myth of frontier idealism?
  6. Finally, use your Survival Questionaire (from the Deep Survival reading) to analyze the Donner Party debacle.